Senior Jazz Critic & Music Historian
Marcus Ellison is a jazz journalist and music historian with over 20 years of experience covering the British and European jazz scenes. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music and the University of Oxford (Music History), he has written extensively on jazz fusion, the Canterbury scene, and the evolution of British improvised music. His work has appeared in Jazz Journal, The Wire, Jazzwise, and The Guardian. He is the author of 'Beyond the Mainstream: British Jazz Fusion 1968-1985' and has lectured on jazz history at Goldsmiths, University of London.
Marcus has been writing about jazz professionally since 2005. He conducted extensive interviews with surviving members of Nucleus and Soft Machine for his book on British jazz fusion, and has reviewed over 2,000 jazz albums and 500 live performances across Europe. He was a judge for the Parliamentary Jazz Awards in 2019 and 2022.
Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Thelonious Monk created bebop in the 1940s — a faster, more complex, more intellectual form of jazz that declared the music an art form, not entertainment.
From Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown to Ella's swinging carols — the best jazz Christmas albums and songs for a warm, sophisticated holiday season.
Jazz musicians talk about 'standards' constantly — but what makes a song a standard? Here is the definitive explanation, with the 20 most essential examples.
From Miles Davis's electric autobiography to Alyn Shipton's definitive history — the essential books that will deepen your understanding and love of jazz.
Saxophone, trumpet, piano, bass, drums — and much more. Here is every instrument you will hear in a jazz band, what role it plays, and how different ensemble formats work.
Starting your jazz journey? These 15 standards have simple chord changes, memorable melodies, and appear on every jam session setlist. Learn these and you can sit in anywhere.
You don't hate jazz — you just haven't heard the right album yet. These 12 records are accessible, beautiful, and guaranteed to change your mind about the genre.
Dorian, Mixolydian, Altered, Whole Tone, Diminished — knowing the right scale for every chord is the foundation of jazz improvisation. Here are the 10 scales that cover 95% of the repertoire.
Young artists across London, New York, and Tokyo are blending jazz traditions with electronic production, hip-hop, and global folk music to create something entirely new.
John Coltrane was born on 23 September 1926. A century later, the global jazz community is marking his legacy with the most ambitious centenary programme in jazz history — including the mythical Tiberi Tapes.
Korean pop producers are increasingly turning to jazz harmony, improvisation, and live instrumentation, creating a hybrid genre that is captivating audiences worldwide.
Piano trios are experiencing an unprecedented revival as audiences seek authenticity and intimacy in an era of stadium-scale spectacle.
From Nucleus and Soft Machine to the current London jazz scene, British jazz fusion's DNA can be heard in everything from contemporary jazz to electronic music and beyond.
The tenor saxophone remains jazz's most iconic instrument, and a new generation of players is pushing it into uncharted sonic territory.
Six decades after his most revolutionary recordings, Miles Davis continues to shape how trumpet players think about sound, space, and musical identity.
What do professional jazz musicians actually do when they practice? We surveyed 50 working players to discover the routines, rituals, and methods behind world-class jazz performance.
From the breakbeat to the bass line, jungle and drum & bass carry a jazz DNA that runs far deeper than most listeners realise.